The Villain Reborn as Game's Final Boss

Chapter 269: Hunt Them [4]

Neither of us spoke for some time, as Diana was engrossed in making the coffee, something that according to me should have been an easy deal.

Yet the Veltran princess was adding many things to it, and creating something that I just hoped would be safe for me to consume.

Though there was the option of rejecting the drink... I didn’t think it would be strategic to go against her interests, given what I wanted to achieve.

"Here."

Hm?

That was quicker than I had expected.

Diana handed me a cup, before taking one for herself, as both of us sipped the coffee at the same time.

Sweet.

"Sweet."

Diana repeated my words, though she said them loud enough for me to hear.

"Mostly I prefer it on the bitter side, but maybe—"

"Did my presence affect your skills?"

Though I asked the question, from within I had begun to analyse the Diana before me.

Since entering the room, her behaviour had never even shown hints of being nervous about my presence.

It wasn’t like Diana should have been scared of me, but given the current status of the relation between the two of us, she should have been at least a little conscious about my presence.

After all, that was how she always behaved around me.

But... if she hadn’t been nervous, then there was no need for her to make such a basic mistake of adding more sugar to the drink.

Though one could attribute it to a basic human error on her part, I thought otherwise.

"Maybe."

Diana simply chuckled at the end.

If she preferred coffee on the bitter side, then this error was all the more on the weird side.

And if she wanted to make it a little normal for me, she could have simply asked for my preference, but—

It was as if she had added the sugar out of habit.

Maybe... I was analysing the situation in unnecessary depth, but for some reason the more I thought about it, the more my instincts tried to favour my thought process.

They weren’t kicking in, but they were there.

Even now I clearly felt my instincts being suppressed, but the source of the suppression was still unknown.

Could it be Diana?

The thought had previously crossed my mind, but knowing Diana’s strength, I knew that she wasn’t capable of doing something like that.

And even if she had somehow become capable out of nowhere... why would she even act against me?

Diana was someone who deeply cared for Kael to the extent of falling in love with him.

Why would someone like that try to harm me?

Though I still tried to think of any possible actions on my part that may have resulted in a sudden development of hostility in Diana’s mind with regards to me.

But... no matter what, the slate was clean.

The reason behind the suppression wasn’t Diana, but someone that was currently in my vicinity.

But who?

Or had the emperor mixed something in my coffee, making me feel this way?

No.

Such things should have been beneath him, yet no matter what I couldn’t help but be suspicious of the emperor.

"When are you going to return to the academy?"

Though I was still wary about the possible threat to my life, I still had to achieve my primary objective behind coming here.

"I was thinking of taking a break for a while."

Diana gave a defeated smile while uttering the words.

"A new assignment had been given out, and missing it could severely impact your academic scores."

Hearing my statement, Diana simply nodded her head while looking down, as she sipped the coffee from her cup at the same time.

There was a short silence as I waited for Diana’s reply—

"Are you worried about me?"

"..."

The question wasn’t difficult, yet directly being asked about it, made me think of the most strategic and diplomatic answer that I could give at the moment.

Honestly, without her possible use in my plans, Diana had no place in my life... so caring for her had never even crossed my mind.

Yet right now I had to give an answer to make Diana feel closer to me, while also being a little distant in my tone... which was normal given the personality that Kael had.

"Alicia and the rest were worried about you."

I responded with no change in my expression.

Faking the expressions on my face, could give away the truth that I wanted to hide from Diana.

After all... the eyes never lied.

That made having a neutral face with no emotions whatsoever the best choice before me... at least at the moment.

"I had told them to not visit me. But... that wasn’t what I had asked."

Hm?

Given Diana’s nature she should have already received the hint, and should have already tried to change the subject knowing that I didn’t want to give a clear answer.

But—

"Ah! You don’t have to answer it. I just got carried away."

"..."

"Sorry."

I simply opted to nod my head without giving a response.

From the slight clenching of Diana’s left fist, and the curling of her fingers around the cup, I could see that Diana was being somewhat nervous.

But—

For some reason I just couldn’t believe the expressions before me.

Somehow they had become the perfect replication of how the character named Diana should have behaved in this situation.

"That’s alright."

Maybe... I was reading too much into the situation.

"Allan wouldn’t want his sister to score poorly, would he?"

Taking another sip from the cup, I leaned on the wall behind me, my eyes fixed on Diana, who had her head downcast, looking at the floor below.

I could even see the slight tears that had begun to form at the corner of her eyes, as Diana looked up to meet my gaze.

"How could people be so cruel to kill a child?"

Diana asked the question with a trembling voice, as the tears streamed down her face.

Hm?

Did the sudden mention of her dead cousin make her return to reality?

After all... it was only now that I had the feeling of having arrived to actually console someone, and that the person in question finally looked like she was in some real pain.

Haa...

Humans sure were complicated creatures.